Hunkered down in Belhaven, NC

As the remnants of Hurricane Ida pass off the coast and the high from the West blows through to meet the low, we are experiencing winds of 40 knots or more. We are at a dock, but getting on and off the boat and then walking down the dock can be very tricky. It has rained about 10 inches in the past 24 hours, and our dingy is full of water. Oh, and there is occasional thunder and lightening! Winds may begin to subside somewhat this afternoon. Colby is bored; he gets off the boat 2 or 3 times a day to do the necessary things, but it is raining so hard he doesn't want to stay out long! And when we get back from a "shoreside excursion," we are all soaking wet. The creaking and groaning of our mooring lines on pilings (no floating docks here) sounds like the soundtrack of a 1950's pirate movie! The noise of the wind and the fenders slapping against the side of the boat, as well as the motion of the boat being pushed around in the slip, are all very alarming to the senses. There is no real danger, but the noise is tiring.

The upside is that we are not alone! There are six other boats here sitting out this storm, and there is a very nice clubhouse, where we all gathered for a potluck dinner and adult beverages last evening. Ishmael is here, a British couple who crossed the Atlantic in their 39' catamaran, a couple on a trawler, another couple on a Hunter 33, a Canadian couple on a C&C 33, and a young family with 3 small children on a 29' sailboat. Also, there is a courtesy car, so some of us may go into town to do some errands when the wind subsides a bit. The are also hot showers, which helps to improve the attitude!

To back up a few days, we had very fair weather for the trip from Norfolk to here! We left Norfolk Saturday morning, and entered the Dismal Swamp Canal shortly after. This is a fairly narrow, shallow, somewhat overgrown and dark canal with occasional logs near the surface and also on the bottom which wake one up in a hurry! The canal connects the Elizabeth River to the Abermarle Sound. The North Carolina Welcome Center, about halfway through the canal, has a free dock, and we were rafted up there with 14 other boats that evening! It was a bit crazy, but a calm and well protected spot, so it worked. The next day, we continued on to Elizabeth City, a very welcoming town which offers free dockage for up to 48 hours for cruisers. There we were greeted by Pete Taggett, who has a sailboat at Van Slooten Harbour Marina on Lake Champlain; Pete spends his winters in Elizabeth City. He took us to the grocery store, the hardware store, the post office, and helped us get diesel and kerosene! A big thank you to Pete. That evening, we burned kerosene in our heater for the first time, and the result was very little soot. This was very good news! We are also ordering an upgrade kit, which should help us to control the burn more easily.

We would have loved to stay another day in Elizabeth City, but this weather was forecast, so we decided to move, and we are very glad we did. We left Monday morning, and had a very calm passage across the Abermarle Sound. This is one day we were glad to motor, as the Abermarle has a reputation for becoming treacherous in a hurry. We anchored near the mouth of the Alligator River that evening, along with Ishmael. A very quiet, peaceful spot; the only problem was that there was no good spot to get the dogs ashore. Colby and Kooper had to climb out of their dingies, over a mass of interwoven tree roots, and find a bit of marsh grass to take care of business! A repeat performance at 6:15 the next morning, and underway shortly after. The 20+ miles in the Alligator River-Pungo River Canal made a very pleasant day; sunny, with a light breeze, mid 70's! This was a 55 mile day. We arrived at Dowry Creek Marina about 3:15, glad to be here, in a good place for the approaching storm.....